RSS FEED

Saturday, November 27, 2010

This Christmas, Emily Merkle (call her Mrs. Miracle!) is working in the toy department at Finley's, the last family-owned department store in New York City. And her boss is none other than…Jake Finley, the owner's son.

For Jake, holiday memories of brightly wrapped gifts, decorated trees and family were destroyed in a Christmas Eve tragedy years before. Now Christmas means just one thing to him—and to his father. Profit. Because they need a Christmas miracle to keep the business afloat.

Holly Larson needs a miracle, too. She wants to give her eight-year-old nephew, Gabe, the holiday he deserves. Holly's widowed brother is in the army and won't be home for Christmas, but at least she can get Gabe that toy robot from Finley's, the one gift he desperately wants. If she can figure out how to afford it…

Fortunately, it's Mrs. Miracle to the rescue. Next to making children happy, she likes nothing better than helping others—and that includes doing a bit of matchmaking!

This Christmas will be different. For all of them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Through both words and deeds, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber inspires women from all walks of life to realize their dreams.

Debbie Macomber overcame the obstacles in her own life to become one of the world’s most popular writers. She encourages women to achieve the goals that burn in their hearts as fiercely as the desire to become a bestselling novelist did in her own 15 years ago.

When Debbie first decided to write a novel, people called her a hopeless dreamer. She had only a high school degree and was dyslexic. She was also the very young mother of four active children. No one believed she had what it took to write a book—except Debbie. She eventually saved enough money to rent an old typewriter, and every night when the children were asleep, she would sit down to write.

She wrote—for years. But each time she completed a story and mailed it off to a publisher, the manuscript was returned, stamped "rejected." As tough as it was to keep her spirits alive, Debbie never gave up. Five long years and thousands of pages later, she received a letter in the afternoon mail. The letter was from Silhouette Books—and they wanted to buy her story. Her first novel, Heartsong, was published as a Silhouette Inspiration in 1984, and it became the first romance novel ever to be reviewed in Publishers Weekly.

Today, Debbie is the internationally acclaimed author of more than 100 novels. Popular around the globe, she receives approximately three thousand letters from readers every month. And she responds personally to each one.

In lectures around the country, Debbie encourages women to "exercise the success muscle." She also offers advice on how to achieve success in seeking or changing a career, building family relationships, forming healthy relationships and more.

Is it any wonder that Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America appointed Debbie an ambassador for the national office in 1997? In support of the organization’s outreach to young people, Debbie traveled throughout the U.S. to inspire and encourage them to pursue—and realize—their own dreams.

Like her heartwarming novels, Debbie’s inspirational speeches are always filled with laughter and love. She cares deeply about the women she touches with her writing, and she continues to mentor people around the country. She also volunteers her considerable talents to help raise much-needed funds for battered-women’s shelters, literacy and medical research. Several of Debbie’s novels have achieved the number-one spot on Waldenbooks bestseller lists and earned prestigious berths on the USA Today bestseller list. A three-time winner of the impressive B. Dalton Award, she is also the recipient of Romantic Times’Magazine’s distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award. And, most recently, she made the New York Times bestseller list with her novel, Promise, Texas—truly an accomplishment!

She lives with her husband in Port Orchard, Washington. Their children are grown and she is now a proud grandmother.

ABOUT THE MOVIE:

In the new movie, it's Christmas in New York City and Mrs. Merkle (Roberts) is a sassy saleswoman in a family-owned department store that could use a little holiday magic. She gets to work quickly selling the season's expected hot toy, the SuperRobot, for her new boss, Jake, who is micromanaged by his dad, JR.

But before long, she has things under control at the store but is also helping along a romance with Jake and Holly, a beautiful assistant to a fashion designer who's the legal guardian to her nephew, Gabe. Mrs. Miracle still has a lot work ahead of her, but she's planning on a wonderful Christmas for all.

No one celebrates the holidays like Emily Merkle (Roberts) - Mrs. Miracle as she is known by some - who is back to ensure that this Christmas is the most magical and meaningful of all. When Mrs. Miracle appears as a seasonal employee in the toy department at the financially troubled Finley's Department Store, neither the store's owners, nor the customers, have any idea of the saintly events that are about to unfold. None of them can even say who hired Mrs. Merkle or where exactly she came from, but her illustrious and angelic spirit will dispel gloom, drive away misery, and prove that miracles happen every day, especially on Christmas. With Mrs. Miracle in charge of the holidays, toys fly off shelves, Finley's business is saved, and its owners and customers all find renewed faith in the spirit of Christmas. Yes, just when it seemed Christmas might not come at all this year, Finley's favorite employee proves they don't call her Mrs. Miracle for nothing!

Dan Wigutow, Michael M. Scott and Debbie Macomber are the executive producers. It is a Dan Wigutow Productions Film in association with KZ Productions Inc. Be sure and check out my post about the movie and times you can see it starting today, Saturday, November 27, by going HERE.

MY REVIEW:I believe that the part of Debbie Macomber’s stories that I enjoy the most is her talent in creating characters that you enjoy getting to know, and that you always care about. When as a reader, one is personally invested in the lives of the characters, we tend to enjoy a story more, in my opinion. This is again true with CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE. Even when the people aren’t so nice, you can still care about them as I find myself trying to figure out what in their lives has made them that way. This is very easy to see especially in a holiday story like CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE where one would assume the story would be filled with people full of the holiday spirit, but sometimes, the spirit is more that of Mr. Scrooge than Santa!

From their first meeting in a coffee shop, you can sense that there will be romance in the cards for Jake Finley and Holly Larson as the story unfolds. The anticipation is sweet and welcome especially at this time of the year. Jake starts out by being focused only in making his business successful, while Holly is trying to get by caring for her nephew while his father is serving our country in Afghanistan. Her goal is to put a smile on Gabe‘s face for Christmas with a highly desired toy robot that just happens to also be highly desired by all the other children AND costs quite a bit of money on top of that. Pulling that off may be hard with the way things are going for Holly right now, but it is so important to her to make Gabe happy. With Jake managing the Toy Department in his family‘s department store, it is easy to see how these two get together.

But just in case some of the Scrooge-like people make things for Holly and Jake and Gabe a little tough, enter Emily Merkle who just happens to appear just when she is needed most. With an air of magic and mirth, Emily is the one who helps move things along so that the warmth of the heart and the holiday can enchant not only the three main characters, but all who read this caring and heartwarming holiday story. I can’t wait to see the movie. I know with Debbie involved, it is sure to be a hit!

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO DEBBIE MACOMBER, AND

KIM AT NANCY BERLAND PUBLIC RELATIONS,

I HAVE ONE COPY OF THIS LATEST

"MRS. MIRACLE" SERIES BOOK TO GIVE AWAY

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY--NO P. O. BOXES---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESSIN CASE YOU WIN!--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATETOCOUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY:COMMENT ON WHAT YOU READ ABOVE AND WHY YOU WANT TO WIN THE BOOK AND IF YOU THINK YOU WILL WATCH THE MOVIE

+1 MORE ENTRY:VISIT DEBBIE MACOMBER'S WEBSITE BY GOING HERE AND READ MORE ABOUT HER THERE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING ABOUT HER, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THIS TELEVISION MOVIE

+1 MORE ENTRY:BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

+1 MORE ENTRY:COMMENT ON ONE WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU MAY COMMENT ON EACH WAY FOR EXTRA ENTRIES BUT YOU MUST COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR EACH ONE.

+1 (or +2) MORE ENTRIES:COMMENT IF YOU SIGNED UP FOR SWAGBUCKS ON MY SITE FOR ONE ENTRY. IF YOU GET SOME NEW SWAGBUCKS WHILE THIS GIVEAWAY IS GOING ON, COMMENT ON THAT AND YOU WILL HAVE ONE MORE ENTRY!

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, DECEMBER 9

GOOD LUCK!

DON'T FORGET!!! TONIGHT, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27, THE HALLMARK CHANNEL WILL BE SHOWING THE ORIGINAL MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE ADAPTATION OF DEBBIE MACOMBER'S NEW HOLIDAY BOOK, CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE.GO HERE TO SEE MORE ABOUT THE CAST AND STAR, DORIS ROBERTS.

Last Wednesday I stopped off at the grocery store and I honestly can say the woman that checked me out at the check out counter had actually found Christmas magic. Keeping in mind that this was a day before Thanksgiving, but she had the biggest smile and her blouse was covered with small pins that depicted various Christmas items: snowman, Santa, and Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer. When I read this review concerning a department store lady that could sure use some "Christmas Magic" immediately thought of the lady that had helped me last Wednesday. The people that work in department stores and speciality stores this time of the year are really the ones that should be commended for all the hard work that they do for the same pay. One suggestion ... before you go shopping next time take a Christmas Card put a $5.00 gift card for a place like Starbucks, Wendys, McDonalds, etc. and give that special card to a deserving clerk ... who knows you might be the one that is creating some "Christmas Magic."

We have plans to watch the Hallmark Channel "Call Me Mrs. Miracle" and I would very much like to read this book as well.

I'd love to read this book; and what you said about the author "through word and deed" is what truly caught my interest. As for the movie, I would have loved to watch it, but Hallmark is no longer free on my cable and I cannot afford to pay for extra channels. So I guess if and when it comes to a station other than Hallmark, then I'll see it.

Great review of author, book, and movie, thank you!

And thanks for adding this to my B-Y-G-B linky list for December book giveaways!

I like reading her Christmas books...she captures the spirit of Christmas every time she writes a new story. I will definitely be watching the movie. Saw the first one last year. Thank you for this giveaway! :)

I love the fact that Debbie Macomber creates such believable characters. I love Christmas and books about Christmas. I would love to win this book as it's the best of both worlds...Debbie's work and Christmas! Thank you for the chance to win a copy of Call Me Mrs. Miracle. I will be watching the Hallmark movie in 15 minutes!

Your review is right on target. Macomber's characters are so real and you get caught up in her stories. The previews with Doris Roberts as Mrs. Miracle look like a new classic Christmas movie is being launched. I didn't get to watch it because I was out of town. I hope to catch a re-run of it. Hats off to a good read and captivating movie!LeAnnsunshine9ATimonmailDOTcom

I love the cover of this book and the story sounds like a beautiful, inspirational tale filled with the spirit of Christmas. I would like to read it because I enjoy stories that feature themes of goodwill, kindnewss and learning to love and care for one another at Chritmas-time.

What I find more remarkasble about Debbie Macomber is that she was dyslexic as a child and didn't learn to read until the 5th grade. She turned that adversity around and made it quite a strength on her life.That's a great story!

I almost bought this book for my Mom for Christmas!!! I'm so glad I have a chance to win it!! Thanks!! So I want to when this wonderful book for my Mom and My Mom always watches those Hallmark and Lifetime Movies. I didn't get to see it I'll take a look to see if it's airing again anytime soon.

I'm daughter box me some many books for Christmas and these Cedar Cove books were in the first box I opened so far: Debbie’s hometown also celebrated its first-ever, five-day Cedar Cove Days festival, welcoming readers from 42 states and seven foreign countries to the town that inspired the bestselling series.shundelt@yahoo.com

Hi! I would like to win the boo because I love to read a great Christmas story any time of the year but especially at christmas time. :)I probly won't see the movie as I don't have a TV, but I'd liike see it. :)Thanks so much for the opportunity to win i this giveaway!~Mippy :)bunnysmip at yahoo dot com

Hi!I found the interview very interesting. It's so many of the questions that go through my head about authors or some of the questions I had about her when reading her books. SHe sounds very personable!I found it interesting that Call Me Mrs. Miracle is a sequel to Mrs. Miracle. I've not see either movie but it would be really cool to do so. And since one is out on DVD I just might do that since I can watch it on my computer! :DThanks so much for the opportunity to win i this giveaway!~Mippy :)bunnysmip at yahoo dot com

Thanks for another great giveaway! I want to win this book because I am a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE fan of Ms. Macomber and have read most of her books and am a particular fan of her Cedar Cove and Blossom Street series. I have not watched the movie yet but have recorded it on my DVR and just waiting to find the time to sit down and enjoy it. But I definitely will!!!!

Thanks to all!

Sadly, we will be saying good bye to Bookin' With Bingo early next month. Things just have been too hectic so we have chosen to close down with hopes for a new "BWB" someday. Thanks to all and KEEP READING!